YOU’RE having a truly awful day: your boss just yelled at you, there’s talk of retrenchments, you’re worried about a sick relative – and now as you stand in an elevator, a complete stranger tells you to “cheer up”.
You feel like giving him a piece of your mind but instead decide to vent on social media. Surely your friends will understand? But when you open up your Facebook feed, it’s just wall-to-wall inspiration, with people sharing platitudes such as “Tears are for losers” and “When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life a thousand reasons to smile!”
Smile, be grateful, be happy – around every turn we’re told to ignore the negative and focus only on the positive. But this advice, although well-intentioned, isn’t always helpful – in fact, in some cases it can actually be bad for your mental health.
In a new book, Toxic Positivity, American psychotherapist Whitney Goodman explains why.
WHAT’S TOXIC POSITIVITY?
When people hear the term toxic positivity, they often think I’m implying we should be negative all the time. That’s totally not what this is about. It’s about balance. Being human means making space for the positive, the negative and everything in between.
Sometimes the glass isn’t half full – it really is one sip away from empty – and yet toxic positivity demands you see the good in every situation. No matter how bad life is, you’re expected to slap on a happy face and soldier on.
Struggles are presented as “opportunities”, grief as “love with nowhere to go” and weaknesses as “emerging strengths”.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der 3 March 2022-Ausgabe von YOU South Africa.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der 3 March 2022-Ausgabe von YOU South Africa.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN THERAPIST
With more and more of us struggling with our mental health, here's a common-sense guide to coping with life's ups and downs
SPUD: THE MAGIC CONTINUES
John van de Ruit tells us why he decided to write a sequel - and shares how his first book helped him find enduring love
SEX CONTRACT GONE WRONG
A Cape Town couple have been charged with using a young woman as a sex slave-but some say she lost the job she signed up for and now has a grudge against them
LIAM LAID TO REST
More than a month after One Direction singer LIAM PAYNE (31) tragically fell to his death from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his loved ones finally got to say their goodbyes.
SHILOH HANGS OUT
THE two young women look like any pair of good friends chatting and laughing as they leave their dance class in Los Angeles.
LEO IN LOVE
He's just turned 50 and it seems Leonardo DiCaprio may finally be ready to settle down
PACKING A PUNCH
Irish actor Paul Mescal beefed up for his role in the blockbuster epic Gladiator II - and fans are loving it
I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE A LOVE CHILD
As the illegitimate daughter of the king, she fought to be recognised as part of Belgium's royal family, but Princess Delphine says she still feels unwelcome
'I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES'
A bite from a spitting cobra 13 years ago nearly killed her but Mikayla survived - and she's made peace with her scars
THE CLAWS ARE OUT!
Things have grown frosty between the Beckhams and the Sussexes as Becks comes out in clear support of William